Officer Troy Melott said that his time at Clarksburg High School has helped him build a rapport with the students and that it was important to have that connection so that the students know he is there to protect them.

An emergency bond hearing is scheduled for Tuesday on whether Alwin Chen, 18, should remain in jail. Defense attorneys say evidence was mischaracterized at an earlier hearing — but prosecutors insist Chen is still a threat.

“The State asserted that the alleged ‘list of grievances’ explained, ‘why he (defendant) would want to harm people at the school,'” wrote attorney David Felsen. “The State later argued that the ‘list of grievances’ set forth the supposed motive for Mr. Chen’s alleged bringing the gun to school.”

Alwin Chen was arrested Feb. 15 with a 9 mm handgun in his backpack and a knife in his front shirt pocket, police said. Chen’s arrest inside the Montgomery County, Maryland, high school classroom came the day after a gunman opened fire in a Florida high school, killing 17 people.